Science Fiction, Fantasy, and More!

Deadlines Approaching

Today I’m writing from the Gaslight Gathering Steampunk Convention in San Diego, California. The theme of this year’s convention is “A Martian Holiday” and last night I conducted an excellent session of actually observing Mars through my 8-inch telescope. It’s always fabulous to see the wonder on people’s faces when they connect with places away from the Earth. Unfortunately, we were kicked out early when hotel security told us we couldn’t be in the pool area where we were set up.

Writing work continues while I’m at the convention, since I have two fast-approaching deadlines. I recently received the latest edits to my novel Lightning Wolves. My editor only had a few suggestions and I’ve addressed those. I just need to give the manuscript one last read and write up the dedication and acknowledgement pages, then the book goes off for final formatting. I feel like a long journey is coming to a good end. Ideas are coming fast and furiously for the third novel in the series, The Brazen Shark, which I’ll be working on in the second half of this year.

The other project that’s due soon is my horror novel, The Astronomer’s Crypt. If you’d like to learn more, I’ve been writing about that more over at my other blog: dlsummers.wordpress.com. At this point, I estimate I have somewhere between 6000 and 8000 words to go. The novel tells the story of a disgruntled technician, fired from an observatory who unleashes a great evil. The novel pulls a lot from my experience at Kitt Peak National Observatory and other institutions. It’s true, I’ve seen some amazing stuff in the sky, but I’ve also had some pretty scary nights at the telescope. You’ll get to see a little of that latter part of my life in this book. Fortunately, my job isn’t quite as scary as I portray in the horror novel!

I’ve been getting a little bit of work done here and there on these projects between events at the convention and visiting with people. I have two panels today. In the first, I discuss how Mars went from being a point of light in the sky to a real place in the eyes of the Victorians. In the second, I’ll be discussing Victorian, Steampunk, and Martian poetry. If you’re at Gaslight Gathering, feel free to ask me more about any of these projects and ask me about a “Heed the owls” badge ribbon. If you’re not at Gaslight Gathering, you’re more than welcome to ask questions in comments. I’ll be sure and swing by the computer to answer ASAP!